Elise

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Beaufort Wind Scale

Force 0 = calm, less than 1 kt of wind. Flat seas: That was the 2009 Long Pac with Nat and Heather

Force 1 - light air - 1 to 2 kt of wind - Ripples without crests. Still wind vanes. That's typical of a midwinter drifter on San Francisco Bay

Force 2 - light breeze - 3 to 6 kt of wind - Small wavelets. Crests of glassy appearance, not breaking. Wind felt on exposed skin. This is quite typical of light winter sailing on San Francisco Bay. The Sunday of the Big Daddy 2011 had this kind of conditions.

Force 3 - gentle breeze - 7 to 10 kt of wind - large wavelets. Crests begin to break; scattered whitecaps .

Force 4 - moderate breeze - 11-15 kt of wind - top end of the genoa for Elise - Small waves with breaking crests. Fairly frequent whitecaps. These are great practice conditions as a preparation for heavier air conditions. This is what we raced in, in the afternoon of the Meebo offsite this year.

Force 5: fresh breeze, wind at 16 - 20 kt - moderate waves of some length. Many whitecaps. Small amounts of spray.

This is the minimum we would encounter in the summer on San Francisco Bay and what we had at the beginning of the Double-Handed Farallones Race this year.

Force 6: strong breeze, wind at 21-26 kt - White foam crests are very frequent. Some airborne spray is present. - this is what we had for most of the DHF Farallones in 2011 - this is what we had finishing the Long Pac under the bridge in 2009 and this is very typical of San Francisco Bay

Force 7: high wind, moderate gale, near gale, wind at 27–33 kt. Sea heaps up. Some foam from breaking waves is blown into streaks along wind direction. Moderate amounts of airborne spray. On land, it would take an effort to walk against the wind. - Late afternoon, heading into Point Conception, this is what we had during Coastal Cup 2010. This is also what we had in squalls during Pac Cup 2008.

Force 8: gale, fresh gale. winds at 34 - 40 kt - moderately high waves with breaking crests forming spindrift. Well-marked streaks of foam are blown along wind direction. Considerable airborne spray. - this is what we had for most of the time at Point Conception. Elise can still have her heavy spinnaker up downwind and a full main in these conditions. The more wind, the more stable she becomes (up to a point) and surfing down waves is awesome.

Force 9: strong gale, wind at 41 to 47 kt. high waves whose crests sometimes roll over. Dense foam is blown along wind direction. Large amounts of airborne spray may begin to reduce visibility. . This is what we had at the Express 27 Nationals in Santa Cruz, and the type of gust we had off Point Conception heading into Santa Barbara. Apparently, there were a few gusts like this on Saturday during the Double-Handed Farallones (which would explain why we would have needed a smaller headsail and why we will take one next time in order to keep pointing!)

Force 10: storm - whole gale. Wind at 48 - 55 kt - very high waves with overhanging crests. Large patches of foam from wave crests give the sea a white appearance. Considerable tumbling of waves with heavy impact. Large amounts of airborne spray reduce visibility. This is what was announced a couple of times this past winter, and pretty common of the worst storms that will sweep across San Francisco. In 2007, the Express 27 Nationals were held in 45 kt sustained wind speed, gusting into the Force 10. Force 10 is also the strength of the wind during the tragic 1979 Fastnet Race. We would not put a spinnaker up downwind, unless it was a heavy shy kite and pretty stable seas. We would probably consider reefing the main downwind. Depending on sea conditions, we may not want to be running at all, facing the waves might be safer. Upwind with a triple-reefed main and a storm jib and weight on the rail, Elise might probably still sail in these conditions but would require pretty constant attention.

Force 11: violent storm, wind at 56 -63 kt. exceptionally high waves. Very large patches of foam, driven before the wind, cover much of the sea surface. Very large amounts of airborne spray severely reduce visibility. - this is the type of wind that the boats encountered during the 1998 tragic Sydney Hobart race. I have not sailed in this kind of storm - it is probably something where I would want to heave to, make sure I have plenty of sea room and maybe deploy a sea anchor - or run with a drogue behind the boat. Elise as a super light displacement boat and a fin keel does not heave to very well, although we did demo it during the 2009 spinnaker cup with Heather as we had to rescue the spinnaker at some point and we were both needed, allowed us to park the boat without requiring the auto-pilot, and Elise behaved remarkably. With a bridle to prevent jerking and with both a headsail and a mainsail used to heave-to, (or rather a backed storm jib and a triple reefed main) Elise may actually be quite comfortable on the water that way. The main concern would be if a few tons of water decides to crash on deck...Things may start to break too if you don't balance things correctly (like put a headsail up without anything on the other side of the mast to balance the rig)

Note that I would actually start worrying a bit more about things on land with this kind of wind...It is likely that trees could fall and things would be flying around and could just hit you or something...Open waters may not be the most dangerous place to be in this kind of situation. (and if this was the next 3-day forecast, I would not go out, so the likelihood of me not being in open water on a boat is pretty small...)

Force 12: hurricane force winds at over 64 knots. Huge waves. Sea is completely white with foam and spray. Air is filled with driving spray, greatly reducing visibility. Beaufort scale 12.jpg During the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race, the boats in the eye of the storm recorded 80 knot-winds, so definitely a Force 12 storm. Boats broke, rigs were lost. I have never encountered these conditions. This would be serious serious damage on land...

Cool GPS Track animation

http://www.sfbama.org/racing/replay/110409_dhf.html

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Awesome J-Fest Photos from Pressure Drop

http://www.pressure-drop.us/forums/content.php?1326-Captain-Carnage-Strikes-Again

Monday, April 11, 2011

NorcalSailing coverage of DHF

http://www.norcalsailing.com/entries/2011/04/10/doublehanded-farallones.html

Boats came back under jibs (so did we) because the wind wasn't aft...it was a reach all the way down, to steep an angle to fly a spinnaker under these wind conditions. Still surfing though. It looks like Elise did a max of 14 knots through the water (17 over ground) with a main and a #3 jib. Not bad!

More about missing sailor and heavy winds this weekend

"Sustained winds of 25 mph and gusts up to 45 mph Saturday contributed to the heavy seas, according to the Coast Guard."

Cat playing with dolphins

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Stats from DHF

avg speed (over ground): 5.7
max speed (over ground): 17.1 kts !!!!!

(probably 14 knots over water and some 3 knots of current, probably flood, coming back into the main channel) - pretty cool...without a spinnaker up as we were reaching the whole way!

DHF 2011 - course map

From Elise's GPS from the moment we turned it on

Ultimate Portrait

of Ultimate Yachshots photographer. Serge has taken a lot of photos of Elise - AND did the entire inside and outside varnishing job this year. That's a lot of work.

Elise's practice - 2nd set of photos

Apparently there was about 30 knots of wind - so it was a rather windy practice! These conditions are pretty typical of San Francisco Bay during the summer, and pretty much what we had at all our Nationals in the past few years, at least for one day.

Nathan, setting up the boat

Michiel gybing the spinnaker

Elise playing with other fun wind stuff.

Bye bye Elise! - and thank you for all the fun.

Elise's practice - Sunday 10 2011

Elise went out for a practice after yesterday's Ocean race. The plan was to practice mark roundings. She also got a new pin for its vang as the previous one broke free during the DHF.

Suzanne, our upwind trimmer (or port side trimmer on long distance races)

Elise is leaving the dock with Michiel, Mark, Nick (our coach), Suzanne and Nathan. Nat stayed behind because of some orbital fracture.

Elise gliding out of the harbor

Mark setting up the mainsail

Elise, upwind on her way to the mark

Elise is tacking right before the mark and will head towards it

Post tack, getting to the mark (it was flooding heavily so Elise gave it a wide berth

Coming downwind around the mark

Michiel sets up the pole

The spinnaker comes out of the bag and is being hoisted

Spinnaker is up! Elise is on ther way to the leeward mark where it will be dropped and the jib will be hoisted again for the next upwind leg.

Interesting way to propel a sailing vessel forward

Michiel (foredeck) in deep conversation with Nathan (heml)

Mark (downwind trimmer)

Nick, our coach

Untitled

Weather conditions yesterday

Looks like the wind was more like 30-35 knots yesterday out where we were (29 knots clocked at the gate when we returned), and some localized 40 knot gusts. And some swell were around 12ft at 7.5 second intervals in the potato patch, although mostly about 10 to 11 feet with 15 seconds intervals for most of the race, and 6 to 7 as we got closer to the gate, past Point Bonita.

More about missing sailors

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17814387?nclick_check=1

Missing Sailors

Oh boy. None of the DHF sailors (looks like some buoy reports indicated that the waves on the potato patch were 12ft high and every 7.5 seconds)

From Latitude 38

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2010-05-24&da...

May 24, 2010 – Ocean Beach / Venice Beach

(Click on the photo to enlarge it.)
Feral sailed ashore at Venice Beach yesterday afternoon. Her skipper, an experienced solo sailor, Tom Kirschbaum is missing.
© 2011 KTLA-TV / www.ktla.com

Yesterday turned tragic with the loss of three West Coast sailors. Down south, 2008 Singlehanded TransPac veteran Tom Kirschbaum, 55, appears to have fallen off his 26-ft International Folkboat Feral on his way home to Marina del Rey after competing in the Catalina Island Series-Emerald Bay Race on Saturday. A gale had been forecast for the weekend, and reports confirm rough conditions for the first half of what was supposed to be a two-way race (we're told Day 2 of the race was cancelled due to worsening conditions, but were unable to confirm that with Long Beach YC before uploading today's 'Lectronic).

Finishing the Singlehanded TransPac in 2008 was a hard-won battle for Tom, seen here after arriving in Hanalei. He will be sorely missed.
Photo Latitude / LaDonna
© 2011 Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc.

Kirschbaum's wife Gayle told the Coast Guard that she'd received an email from Tom yesterday morning around 9:30 letting her know he was leaving. According to Petty Office Christina Bozeman, the Coast Guard received the call that Feral had sailed ashore one mile south of the Santa Monica pier, basically on Venice Beach. First-responders found no one aboard. "A C-130 airplane was dispatched to search, and the cutter Narwhal has been searching all night," Bozeman reports. "We may look to suspend the search this afternoon but we're still searching."

Closer to home, an unidentified married couple sailing north from Pillar Point were near Ocean Beach when they fell off their Ranger 33 Barcarolle in rough conditions, according Coast Guard Petty Officer Pamela Manns. "A worker at Cliff House restaurant noticed the boat was in distress," said Manns. "We received the call at 4:30 p.m. and a 47-ft motorlifeboat was on-scene at 5:15." The lifeboat crew found Barcarolle unmanned but couldn't immediately see anyone in the water. The woman's body was recovered around 7 p.m. while a man's body washed ashore this morning. The Coast Guard has not confirmed his identity at this point, so they're hesitant to identify him as the man from Barcarolle. The boat has since washed ashore at China Beach, not the Marin Headlands as previously reported by the Coast Guard.

Our hearts go out to the familes of all the victims.

UPDATE: The San Francisco Medical Examiner has officially released the names of the couple from Barcarolle: Jeff and Beth Easterling of El Sobrante. They were 59 and 50, respectively.

- latitude / ld

Double-Handed Farallones - 2011

Nathan activating the bilge pump... With all the waves crashing on the boat and covering up the deck, it was quite full byt the time we got back to the dock. by the tim

Serge helped prep Elise in the morning and was also helping tidying her up in the evening.

Nat with a sunburnt nose and a half-moon decorated eye and Nathan after a super enjoyable DHF race

And you can tell how much things have healed! Now it's just a little purple crescent that acts as a drop shadow around the eye.

Elise's crew wasn't in the best of form. Nat was wearing a bike helmet to protect her orbital bones and moved ever so slowly and carefully around the boat. So much so that Nathan asked a few times whether Nat was all right. Nathan was jet-lagged and travel-tired having just come back from a business trip to Korea. - and we had a little too much sail area. Despite that, we both finished the race!

We gave Elise 4 opti floaters (just big air-filled buoys) and put two at the stern and two in the forepeak. The thought was that if anything were to happen, there would be trapped air that would keep the boat afloat. Maybe underwater, but afloat.

1st year, Nat was sick and Nathan did the race with Wetsu's owner; 2nd year, Nat was seasick on the boat and Elise turned around right before the island. 3rd year, we got stuck with most of the fleet at Point Bonita, in a washing machine, the flood and lack of wind didn't really let us out of the channel. So this is the first year we are actually completing the race - AND right after the lightship race which we did not complete because Nat decided to do something really stupid.

So regardless of the result, this was an achievement in itself - for Nat at least.

Unfortunately, the camera sufarced after we got back to the dock as there were a couple of photos along the way that would have been quite interesting on this blog.

The start of the race was interesting to say the least. It was flooding on the line, even though it was ebbing in the main channel - and it took us over half an hour to cross the line. It actually was a problem that touched everyone because all the starts before us ended up in the same situation. We would move forward, then get someone's bad wind and stop, then slide back pushed by the current.

A lot of 'fender benders' as leeward boats pushed the windward boats very close to shore, where they had no more place to go and because basically ALL the starters share the same line at the exact same time.

After the start, we headed to ward the channel into beneficial current. The other E27s did the same thing - except for El Raton which went way out to Richardson Bay to catch even more current (or wind?) - point was that even with the extra distance, El Raton passed us at the gate. Taz, Wetsu and Elise were battling at that point - and Verve and El Raton were leading the pack. Great White appeared in our group after a while.

It was a spinnaker start and a #1 weather, there was very little wind to being with. As soon as we went under the gate, the wind filled from the North and raised quickly. So we dropped our #1 before we got to the Potato Patch, as it was a lot easier to do so before Point Bonita. That was a good call as the wind keep picking up unt the time we rounded the island and never dropped. It was still probably gusting 25 when we got back to the Bay.

We didn't have our instruments on (missing a fuse holder) but we estimated gusts at 30 kts and 25 knots sustained. We had a #3 up and a reefed main. However, our #3 was too big a sail for the two of us on the boat and we should probably have carried a #4 to balance the sail areas better. Putting a 3rd reef would not have helped as it was the #3 that would force us up in gusts.

We saw another Express with two reefs, El Raton had flatteners on the main and a #4. Basically, people were definitely equipped for stronger breeze. Next time, we will probably carry a #4 just in case!

Heavy swell (probably 10 ft or so), some of the waves breaking - so things would be all over the place on the boat and it was hard to move around. Boat would sometimes just fall off the edge of a steep wave and bang back down on the water.

At some point our number #1 which was still on deck got out of its bungees and ended up dragged on the water. Nat went forward to remove the tack (intense exercise because the water was putting strained on the sail and it was hard to undo the clip shacker at the tack fitting). Twice during that time the boat lifted off from a wave and fell a few feet. Nat's body was literally airbone for a few seconds, before crashing back on deck as the boat was coming up on the next wave. It really did feel like a roller Coaster and Nat couldn't help shouting out a 'woo hoo!'. That was stupidly cool. Actually, even driving upwind, and having to beat through the waves, thus being quite slow compared to flat water, or even a little choppy upwind, was pretty awesome. Elise was very eager to move forward.

We swapped driving regularly as both the start in light air and heavy current and driving in waves and heavy breeze were heavy on mental concentration and we wanted to be very effective at driving. Also because Nat messed up Nathan's lightship...

Nat did also something stupid which is that she didn't put her jacket on early enough - so when she became rail meat and had to go forward to sort out the #1 and put the sail below, she got totally drenched by waves covering the entire deck. Usually breaking waves nearby. She went below to remove a dripping wet fleece and just put our heavy weather jacket on top of a wet thermal. This wasn't the warmest thing to do, and when she drove, she also sat in the cockpit to stay out of the wind upwind and to limit the risk of being thrown to the low side, given the craked bone that had to be protected. Given how much and how unpredictably the boat moved and was thrown around by the waves, it was actually hard to sit on the high side and be able to trim the main effectively. Elise's footholds are rather short. It did of course affected the balance of the boat and made the problem of too much sail area more acute. Note that it is Ok to sail with that much sail area, but we couldn't keep the sail full going upwind, or we would lose a lot of distance coming off the breeze, even on a beat - which forced a tack. So it really wasn't a competitive sail choice. With a full crew it would have been just fine, and there definitely wasn't any more wind out there than what we would get on a typical summer day by the bridge on the Bay - it was just too much for the weight of two people, with one being an elf.

At some point Nat was lying on her stomach pushing the genoa through the companionway hatch (trying to keep it close to reduce the amount of water the boat would take on when she got completely submerged by water. The lifejacket thought that it was time to save Nat's life and decided to inflate. Fortunately, we always carry a spare harness and one of the Bay (not self-inflatable) lifejacket. That was just as well, because Nathan's also decided to inflate, less than an hour later. too much wave action and moisture probably. At least, both our jackets would still retain air and could inflate fast and effectively.

We could have reached the islands without tacking after our one tack after the Golden Gate Bridge - however, we fell off too early, and as the wind picked up and we had too much sail area, we had a lot of leeway which pushed us against the island. We rounded the island with two other Express 27s, but had to watch them surf by as we had to throw in that extra tack.

Going around the island was reachy and our sail area was much better there. We couldn't set the spinnaker because going back to the gate was a reach all the way. We were doing some 11 knots over ground on a regular basis, and pushing it with gusts. We picked up a few waves to surf still which was fun. We thought that the wind would clock aft (as forecast) and that we would put the spinnaker on. We could have put back the #1 to reach with, and wished we had out blast reacher with us! We would have been a lot faster.

Nat didn't get seasick, however remembering an early DHF, and given that she hadn't exercised for two weeks as per doctor's orders and given the fact that it usually takes one ocean race for her body to acclimate again to the tough ocean conditions, she took precaution. After doing some fiddly job, she's sit on the rain and look at the horizon for a few minuets. After going below (nothing happened actually below, to her surprise) she also took a few minutes to look at the horizon. Turns out everything was fine the whole way. Maybe because the boat just kept going and would cut through the waves or dance on top of them, as opposed to just being thrown around with no wind to power through them.

In any case, the weather was fantastic: sun, wind and waves and we both fell so lucky to be out there playing. In general, on Express 27s, the more uncomfortable and wet the upwind, the more enjoyable the downwind, particularly in heavy swell (we surf!) - so we usually never mind taking a hard beat on our way to the islands as we keep salivating at the idea of the return trip.

And despite too much sail area, Elise handled the waves extremely well (but that we knew) - really nice little light boat. And frankly, given both our ambitions to cross the Atlantic some day, to sail in Asian and get some Southern Ocean experience once in our lifetime as well as to do more of single-handed sailing, this type of event is a great one to practice on. Not only do you realize how taxing it is on your body physically but you learn how the boat reacts, and make mental notes about the most effective sail combination for these conditions. And it is much better to go out and train in heavier breeze and waves on such a perfect sunny and warm day, than it is in a bad storm with zero visibility!

Results (and I am pleased to report that ALL the E27s finished - in the other fleets, a lot of boats turned around early - and there was no way Nat was going to turn Elise around this time, unless there was some blood splashing out of a deep open wound somewhere...)

Sail #

Skipper

Boat Name

Rating

Finish Time

Elpased Time

Corrected Time

Place

Club

Make

28050

Ray Lotto

El Raton

129

16:50:47

08:10:47

07:49:49

St Francis

Express 27

Steve Katzman

Dianne

129

17:03:19

08:23:19

08:01:49

LTWYC

Expess 27

Rachel Fogel

Great White

129

17:05:33

08:25:33

08:03:57

BYC

Express 27

Phil Krasner

Wetsu

129

17:13:12

08:33:12

08:11:17

Richmond

Express 27

8100

George Lythcott

Taz!!

129

17:13:29

08:33:29

08:11:33

Island YC

Express-27

18283

Ron Snetsinger

Verve

129

17:18:05

08:38:05

08:15:57

SSS

Express 27

101

Nathalie Criou

Elise

129

17:34:03

08:54:03

08:31:14

StFYC

Express 27

Friday, April 8, 2011

Forecast for near the Farallones for tomorrow

This is the 10 to 60 nm forecast passing through the Gulf of the Farallons. Right after the Gate, forecast is 10 to 20, and 5 to 10 in the morning on the Bay.

 SAT  NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. NW SWELL 8 TO 10 FT AT 10 SECONDS. SAT NIGHT NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 4 FT IN THE EVENING...BECOMING 2 FT OR LESS. NW SWELL 6 TO 8 FT AT 10 SECONDS.

This could be an awesome race - pretty perfect conditions for an Express 27. Not a super comfortable upwind as it can get kind of wet in heavier breeze but the boat moves - and the downwind with this kind of swell and wind would be fantastic surfing conditions, if it holds of course. At the last Coastal Cup, we really noted that the boat takes off past 22-23 knots of wind, anything less feels a little slow, even though the boat is moving nicely - just not the 'I am riding a motorbike' kind of feeling that's so exhilarating.

Nat will be wearing a bike helmet and doesn't want to hear anyone laugh.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Dolphin Collision

Who was on starboard?

Monday, April 4, 2011

On the mend!!

Yeah!!! Now I can see noticeable improvements. The swelling around the eye is totally gone. The swelling around the bone is still there (and very sore if not left alone)

I am totally doing the Farallones this weekend with a bike helmet on.